The nine-girl Korean pop band Twice includes a Taiwanese singer named Chou Tzu-yu. The 16-year-old has also emerged over the past 24 hours as a symbol of Taiwan’s civic pride and China’s aggressive efforts to quell it—just as voters in Taiwan head to the elections.
Chou was criticized for performing while waving a Taiwanese flag on January 8 by Taiwanese pop singer Michael Huang in a message (link in Chinese) posted on Sina Weibo. Along with the message, he included a staged image of Chou lying on a bed while waving the flags of Korea and Taiwan. In addition to pulling similar pranks on Taiwanese musicians in the past, Huang is well known for his pro-unification views.
Some Chinese are offended by the Taiwanese flag because it stands out from the Chinese flag, and they see it as campaigning for Taiwan’s independence. Beijing views Taiwan as a province of China, even though it has been self-governing since 1949 when the Kuomintang left the Chinese mainland following a civil war.
Managers at the JYP have also apologized publicly and stated their support for “one China.” However, we made a mistake in not being able to replace Chou’s parental advice, a spokesman admitted to the media (link in Chinese).
Chou’s young age has sparked sympathy and anger toward China. Taiwanese pop stars are frequently punished in China for remarks deemed to be pro-independence. Nearly 3 million people have watched her somber apologies on YouTube, and hundreds of Taiwanese and Korean critics have defended her.
Chou’s Facebook page has since been taken down. Chou also received support from several Taiwanese politicians and leaders. Eric Chu, a presidential candidate for the KMT, whose party theoretically advocates unification with China, wrote: “For a 16-year-old, this is too cruel.” “We welcome you back home, Chou Tzu-yu.”
Analysts speculated that the scenario may have encouraged more Taiwanese to vote. According to Yao Li-min, chairman of the Citizen’s Congress Watch, “Neutral voters who previously did not want to go out to vote would show up to cast their ballots to Taiwan-centric candidates while China-friendly candidates could suffer as a result.”
Source: Quartz
Keep reading IWMBuzz.com
